Friends with Benefits - Panel Discussion at ICFF 2016

Posted: May 08 2016

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that most of the people on this panel count each other as friends first and colleagues second, and much of that goes back to their common beginnings. In 2007, when manufacturer Council was exhibiting its debut collection here at ICFF, designer Brad Ascalon was also making his debut across the floor in the Bernhardt Design ICFF studio exhibition.One year later, designers Harry and Claudia Washington were exhibiting at ICFF as part of a contingent from El Salvador, meeting Derek Chen that year, as well as Jerry Helling of Bernhardt Design, a prominent US design brand that aided in skyrocketing the careers of Harry & Claudia as well as Ascalon. Coleman Gutshall, who came to Bernhardt a few years later has worked intimately with the designers that Bernhardt collaborates with through the company’s many strategic initiatives. As such, Gutshall can attest to the importance of relationships to the success of a brand like Bernhardt and to the designers, like Ascalon and the Washingtons, who the brand chooses to work with. Moderator: Julie Taraska – Product Editor for Architectural Record Panelists: Brad Ascalon – Founder Brad Ascalon Studio NYC, a Manhattan-based industrial design consultancy Derek Chen – Founder Council Design, San Francisco-based furniture manufacturer Harry & Claudia Washington – Founders of the eponymous San Salvador-based design studio Coleman Gutshall – Director of Global Strategy for Bernhardt Design.